Muse interview

Muse, the masters of modern prog rock, reveal a refreshing sense of humour
ahead of their Children In Need appearance.

Among the great and the good of British pop starring in tonight’s Children in Need concert on BBC One, from Sir Paul McCartney to Take That, the only name that might seem to stick out for some people is Muse. Aren’t they the Radiohead-lite band from Devon, who sing politically loaded lyrics against the system and all it stands for?

In fact, Muse, while managing to retain something of their outsider status are right now bigger than any of the other acts. They sell arenas out faster than Coldplay; their last album, Resistance, went to the top of the charts in 20 countries (number three in the States); and they have two enormous stadium gigs lined up for next year, plus a groundbreaking tour of Eurasia, playing countries bands usually don’t get to play.

Certainly, seeing them perform to 25,000 people in a sold-out Antwerp stadium on their current European tour, they give the impression of a band whose trajectory is rapidly upwardly mobile.

“We want to be the biggest band in the world. We’re not ashamed to say that,” says bassist Chris Wolstenholme. “We’ve always been a very ambitious band” adds drummer Dom Howard. “We always had big ideas beyond our abilities.”

Whereas with some bands the feeling is of a frontman and songwriter and a backing band, Muse have a strong group ethos fused over 10 years and five albums, “through plenty of bad times as well as good”.

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Wolstenhome is still based in Teignmouth, Devon, where the band formed a decade ago, and is the most down-to-earth member of the band. Howard lives in London, while singer Matt Bellamy is based near Lake Como in Italy, where he lives in the house that once belonged to the composer Bellini and where they have their own studio.

The band recently returned from touring with U2 in the States, and Wolstenholme is clearly impressed by the veteran Irish rockers. “What blew me away and was totally inspiring,” he says, “was the way that they’ve been together for so long and still enjoy playing music.”

The utter confidence of Muse live is palpable. They kick off the Antwerp show with their latest single, Uprising, and play more than half the new album, which most of the audience already know the lyrics to, and have the nerve to play the 16- minute Exogenesis Symphony as part of the encore.

The show is simply spectacular, with the stage dominated by rising walls of massive video projections suggesting a dystopian cityscape. It is by turns absurd, inspiring, funny and even moving, and it was unsurprising that the band were crowned best act in the world at this month’s Q Awards.

But it is precisely this level of showmanship and ambition that has caused the most resistance among the more serious-minded rock critics, who prize the virtue of authenticity above all others. Muse sit at the other end of the spectrum to the blue-collar aesthetic of Bruce Springsteen or Manu Chao. The lyrical excesses, too, of Matt Bellamy, often full of paranoid references to a vaguely defined powerful elite who are controlling the world, have also alienated some critics.

But, as Bellamy counters when I suggest Muse walk a fine line between seriousness and preposterousness, people don’t always get the humour of the band, “We had more fun making The Resistance than at any time since we started as a band. We would often crack up in the studio. But even the most serious minded people – and we are that – can’t be serious all of the time.”

Bellamy sees Muse as part of a tradition of bands like Genesis, Queen and Depeche Mode, all of whom have been highly successful globally if not always critically acclaimed at home. “People really appreciate that slightly mad, eccentric English tradition around the world. Bands in the Nineties seem to forget the entertainment aspect of rock music”, and says that he has been thinking of appearing on stage in a bird costume.

Bellamy points out the inherent ridiculousness of rock stardom. “We are aware that at any point we are one step away from a Spinal Tap moment, especially if you have a complicated stage show like ours.”

One of the strengths of the band, he believes, is the massive range of musical influences on the band. Resistance quotes, not in an always fully digested manner, from Chopin, Saint-Saëns, Blondie, and, more than anything, Queen.

“I never understood bands who were only influenced by a narrow era of, say, five years of music. I think younger bands like us listen to more diverse music than previously because it’s so easily accessible.” Yet he still thinks Muse have “one of the strongest identities of any band around now. But it’s more of an emotional identity than anything else.”

While London bands, Bellamy feels “are more concerned with what is cool, it’s never been the most important thing for us. I think we have a lot in common with classical composers of the 19th century, although I’m not claiming to have their intelligence. They wanted to create a musical explosion, to blow the crowd away. Opera can be exceptionally moving, but can also be pompous”.

Bellamy’s father was a member of the Tornadoes, whose biggest hit was the futuristic Telstar, produced by the visionary producer Joe Meek, so “thinking big musically has been part of my upbringing”.

Muse’s lyrics, says Bellamy “have to match the epic nature of the music”. For the single, Uprising, an enjoyably strange mix of the Dr Who theme tune, Blondie’s Call Me and glam rock, he sings, “Paranoia is in bloom” and talks of “drugs to keep us all dumbed own” with a glorious singalong chorus of, “They will not control us./We will be victorious”.

Bellamy says the album’s key image was of the love story in Orwell’s 1984. While he has been “reserved” about his politics, he will say: “We are on the brink of something as spectacular as the Sixties. Because of things such as climate change, the collapse of the economy and corrupt politicians, we will have a dramatic reaction against the older generation.”

The soundtrack to the revolution will be part-metal, part-prog rock, part-classical, and – if Muse have anything to do with it – hugely entertaining.